My late father was there. He was RNZAF attached to a specialised RAF unit AMES 9432. This unit was traversing across France Belgium and into Germany from September 1944 until May 1945. I have in photo to verify. He told us five kids he was the first NZer there but never any details at all.

You out together the most impressive, thoughtful and respectful videos of these European wars. All sides and all soldier’s stories respectfully told. Tremendous stuff.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks very much, glad you found it interesting!

@florentinodeguzman3613

3 ай бұрын

😮.​@@BattleGuideVT

@peterbarnes6893

3 ай бұрын

999999999999999999999999999999999999999 4:05 ​@@BattleGuideVT

@nuggetella

2 ай бұрын

​@BattleGuideVT War has only winners and benefactors whom risk little.

This is by far the best documentary I have ever seen about the bridge at Remagen.

@rodsdmba1571

2 ай бұрын

I completely agree. It's not even close.

@BattleGuideVT

7 күн бұрын

Thanks so much!

@BattleGuideVT

7 күн бұрын

@@rodsdmba1571 Thank you!

My favorite ww2 movie is called the Bridge at Remagen. Idk how accurate the film is and all but to me it really shows how important the bridge was and how crazy the last few months of the war were.

Great episode! Personally, this was a very meaningful watch as my dad crossed the Ludendorff Bridge with the 99th Infantry Division. If I’m not mistaken, the 99th Division was the first full US division over the Rhine. The 99th continued attacking east into Germany and participating in the closing of the Ruhr Pocket. While Karl Timmermann was born in Colorado, he grew up in West Point, located in Cuming County, Nebraska. There is a memorial in Timmerman Park located in West Point in honor of Lieutenant Timmerman. There is also a bridge over the Elkhorn River just west of West Point named after Lieutenant Timmerman. Thank you for reminding Americans that WWII didn’t end in Normandy.

@MikeT-TheRetiredColonel

3 ай бұрын

Similar comment made by myself about my second cousin twice removed as he crossed just north of the bridge with the 104th ID, he was KIA on 24 March 1945, unfortunately.

The team did a fantastic job producing this documentary. General Hoge's decision to take the Ludendorff Bridge and form a bridgehead on the east bank of the Rhine instead of advancing south as ordered permanently changed the course of World War II. When the bridge was taken, the Rhine defenses collapsed and the war was shortened by several weeks. Hoges decision led to the fighting for the Remagen bridgehead and enabled the 1st and 9th US armies to encircle the entire Army Group B with around 325,000 men in the Ruhr pocket.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment Ralf, some really interesting thoughts.

@lyndoncmp5751

3 ай бұрын

And the earlier decision to attack through the Hurtgen Forest etc swallowed up vast amounts of men and material and lengthened the war.

@larryzigler6812

3 ай бұрын

The capture of Berlin ended the War. The Bridge was a rather minor incident

@fazole

3 ай бұрын

​@@larryzigler6812 If the western Allies hadn't crossed the Rhine, the Germans who surrendered to them would have been sent to defend Berlin. How many MORE Soviet soldiers would have been killed or wounded then?

@MikeT-TheRetiredColonel

3 ай бұрын

@@larryzigler6812 go back to trolling kiddie videos and let the adults have meaningful discourse. You have zero clue what you're talking about.

Timmermann was from West Point, Nebraska. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany but was raised by his mother in Nebraska. Timmermann himself was raising his family in Nebraska. He died in Aurora, Colorado because that's where he was hospitalized for the cancer that ended his life.

For me its still unbelievable, what was happing there in ww2. I am a German living in a peaceful europe and I am deepest thankful, that those brave people fought against nazi germany and makes our current world possible. I also talk to my children about this and I hope it will never been forgotten.

Damn, that was brillant! Well done all involved.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks General!

As a former Sapper this bridge was still being used to teach the management of bridge demolitions in the 1980’s. I was lucky to visit the site on a battlefield tour whilst at RMAS in 1982. Indeed the entire NATO protocol for demolitions had been developed to ensure that, in any future conflict, such command and control failures would be avoided.

@fazole

3 ай бұрын

We're the Rhine bridges mined during the Cold War?

@bob_the_bomb4508

3 ай бұрын

@@fazole I honestly don’t know if that was planned, as it was far behind our area of responsibility. That being said, no bridge had explosive charges on them in peacetime.

@M-I-K-E

3 ай бұрын

@@bob_the_bomb4508 i am not sure about swiss bridges

@bob_the_bomb4508

3 ай бұрын

@@M-I-K-E the Swiss are a law unto themselves. Literally… :(

My mother lived in Ariendorf just south of Remagen at that time. She told me that there had been a group of german engineers stationed there to repair the bridge. As the Americans approached they got marching order to the eastfront and was replaced with the aengineer with the task to blow the bridge. The reparing engineers then sabotaged the explosivs so they would be captured by the americans, a fate preferable to the east front.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

How interesting... and sneaky!

@warnerchandler9826

2 күн бұрын

Wow, that is a story!

A friend of my dad Tony Romeo was one of the guys that helped captured the bridge. Tony was a very nice and kind man. Someone who I will never forget.

My Dad Jack Sheppard was at the Bridge during the Battle and collapse. He passed away last Jan 2 nd. US Army.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

It's the English language. The Americans and Canadians pronounce them wrong. :)

Great story. My father was in the 127th AAA gun battalion, one of the antiaircraft units rushed to the area to defend the bridge. My father said that he was watching as the bridge collapsed. He said that the sound of the metal bridge girders giving way was terrifying, as well as seeing those on the bridge running for their lives before it collapsed.

@billyroy3577

3 ай бұрын

My father was there with the 376th AAA battalion.

My grandfather was at the Battle of the Bulge and Remagen Bridge. He was lucky to have survived.

@jstal6325

Ай бұрын

Very lucky greatest generation. My dad said he could hear bullets hitting bridge railing when he ran across

My Uncle, Kenneth Whitcher was there as a tank driver. I've heard of this all my life and have seen the movie several times. This documentary is great. Thank you.

Famous Major League baseball player, Warren Spahn Milwaukee Braves, was stationed there as a combat engineer. Was almost killed when the bridge collapsed. Would have lost the winningest left handed in baseball history.

@dave8323

3 ай бұрын

oh no, what a tratedy that would have been for the worlds gayest sport

@warnerchandler9826

2 күн бұрын

​@@dave8323...is that the sport identified by the gayest YT commenter?

Thanks for this very detailed and interesting documentary! My father (82nd Airborne) crossed the Rhine n that bridge and now I live in Germany, near Cologne, not far from Remagen. I've visited the town many times and biked past the bridge regularly in summer.

Great video of an important chapter of WW II. My dad was in Big Red One, 639th AAA battalion. He was on 40mm anti aircraft gun battling Luftwaffe planes desperately trying to destroy the bridge. He was very proud of how his unit helped protect that bridge and shorten the war.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it.

@jackbraine2276

2 ай бұрын

My father crossed the Rhine with the Big Red One, 26th Regiment, 2nd Battalion at Remagen. He said he they crossed in boats under fire. He said he pitied the men who manned the boats because, while he only crossed once, those men crossed over and over again shuttling the troops across the river. He mention the spectacular show when the AAA put a massive cone of fire over the bridge and how it was almost impossible for aircraft to penetrate it. Dad also said that once they got across, it was rough. The Germans had the high ground and the US forces were stalled. It was difficult to get supplies to the troops who had crossed and dad said that they were down to eating the one C ration that nobody liked. It was when the paratroopers landed behind the Germans, that the pressure was taken off them and then they could move forward. Dad said it was no walk in the park.

My father was there with the 51st Engineer Combat Batallion, who built the heavy pontoon bridge downstream. Saw jet aircraft for the first time.

You've done a fantastic job, the attention to detail is incredible! The perspectives from both sides, the strategic context vs on the ground action, overlays of historic photographs and contemporary footage make this a masterclass in storytelling!

Very good video!!! Capturing the Ludendorff Bridge was unexpected and the Allies exploited it immediately. It shortened the war and saved lives.

In 2011, I was working in Cologne and took the opportunity to visit Remagen. It’s a beautiful, peaceful Rhein valley town surrounded with vineyards. The twin towers on the Remagen side of the river are a museum today and we’ll worth visiting. Great pizza at the Cafe Venezia on Marktplatz.

Absolutely completely amazing! Why on earth can't big budget documentaries hold a candle to this!? You guys should really think about submitting this stuff for archival or TV or something! ❤

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Wow, high praise indeed, thanks for the kind words!

@sjb3460

3 ай бұрын

No. They would be held to DEI standards, the dialogue inspected for hurtful comments or content, then they would have to hire about 200 union members. By the time this crew would have been remade, the quality and unique perspectives would be lost.

@sjb3460

3 ай бұрын

Keep up the wonderful work. You guys are craftsmen of the highest order.

thanks for this excellent video. As a German I'm very happy of the efforts of the allies liberating us from a dictatorship. Went first time to the bridge in my youth time, in the mid seventies, when living in Bonn. Impressive, what was achieved in 45.

@Andrew-df1dr

3 ай бұрын

Yet part of your country was taken over by that other dictator: Stalin. Has Germany recovered from that? I hear the east is still poorer than the west.

@brianmcsorley3229

3 ай бұрын

Thank you Wolf, my dad was there on top of that hill ,with his anti-aircraft (4x.50 cal.) halftrack . I appreciate your anti-dictator sentiment here in 2024 . There's no kidding around about it at the level of national politics.

@wolfheilmann774

3 ай бұрын

@@brianmcsorley3229 some time ago I walked with a British friend across the battlefields at Verdun. His grandfather and mine were fighting against each another. We can be so happy that nowadays we have had so long period of piece in Europe, and that we can be friends .

@WielkaStopa-qh1rr

3 ай бұрын

" liberating us from a dictatorship" nothing like a new mythology. the allies were fighting with german state which then was nazi

@fazole

3 ай бұрын

Crap yt app cuts in a sudden ad and the comment I was reading is gone! That's what I get for using their shit app! No more!

As ex Royal Engineer sapper I really enjoyed the story of the Remagen bridge. There was a movie made in the 1969 about the capture of the bridge. Might be a film worth watching again. However you brought the story of the capture of the bridge to life. Well done! 😊

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Paul, glad you enjoyed it!

@lyndoncmp5751

3 ай бұрын

It was on British tv only the other week. I watched the first half hour before I had to go out. Seen it before a few times though.

@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935

3 ай бұрын

The movie infantry events were largely fiction.

@AudieHolland

3 ай бұрын

@@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 The historical events don't make for a traditional warmovie. The initial capture of the bridge was almost by accident. Although those few US infantry running across the bridge must have felt every gun in Germany was firing at them, there were very few German defenders at the time. Apart from the platoon that ran across the bridge, there were two small teams of about four men each that stormed the two towers defending the bridge. However, the machinegunners in the towers weren't expecting any problems so were taken by surprise. As one assault team broke into a tower, the team leader, Sgt. DeLisio, immediately kicked the German machinegun out of the window, the German gun crew surrendered, and that was it. Only in the following days and weeks did the actual battle break out, as the Germans tried to recapture/destroy the bridge with the Americans defending it and sending more and more men across the river every day.

VERY well done! No phony sound effects or background noise. Perfect!

Hi Dan & Team, thanks for another top notch presentation

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Our pleasure!

I’ve been to Remagen and the sight of the structures at the former ends of the Ludendorff Bridge is heart-stopping for a person who knows the history. You’ve told the story very well indeed.

Can't get enough of these. Thanks for doing them, and keep them coming!

Great story, well told. Enjoyed that!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Much appreciated!

My grandfather helped build one of the pontoon bridges under heavy fire, there were 3 bridges able to be out of 33 that were able to be constructed.

I was fortunate enough to visit Remagen in the 80's. I was able to see the remains. When I visited, the footings in the river were still there. They had not been demolished yet. It was awe-inspiring. Knowing that that 1 bridge, was a turning point in the war against Nazi Germany. Great documentary. Thanks for those memories!

These uploads bring it all to life. Names, antics, details of opposing armies. So good...thank you.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching.

I was in 9th Engr USAER during the 70s. We had a stone from the Remagen Bridge on our Parrade grounds next to the Flag pole. We were all well versed in the story of the Remagen Bridge head!

Oh yay! New battle guide vid, this is a treat

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Hope you enjoy it!

You guys are making some of the best docs out there!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for that Scott

I remember thinking when I watched Mark Felton’s video on the subject how remarkably historically accurate the film adaptation The Bridge At Remagen was, and this video just exemplifies that thought even further

@MikeT-TheRetiredColonel

3 ай бұрын

Love Mark's work!

Incredible video! I've never seen most of the footage shown, I'm not sure how you don't have millions of subs!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Wow, thanks very much. We are still quite new here one YT, so hopefully one day if we keep doing what we enjoy, but very glad you found it interesting!

Informative and superb video! Great narration, Dan. I also like the shots of today compared to footage taken in 1945. The maps were helpful as usual and it was great getting to see the footage. Kudos! Keep up the great work.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Many thanks Alex, really appreciate that

@alex4833

3 ай бұрын

@@BattleGuideVT You're very welcome. I learn a lot from each video. Kudos.

my uncle was one of the men who tried get off the bridge when the bridge collapsed and he spent the night in the river hanging onto one of the barges . sadly he passed in 69 .

A very well done Documentary no loud noise you guys should have gotten an Emmy Award for this.

Sgt. Alex Drabik lived only a few miles from me , as I lived just across the road from Holland Township in the 1960s and 1970s. I know two of his cousins. Had I known it back in the late '70s and into the '80s when I had taken great interest in WW2, I'd have looked him up. Some of the fellows I knew in the area used to go to his house with beer in hand, where he would then talk about his wartime experiences.

Great video-Bought tears to my eyes as I watched the bravery of those soldiers who perished whilst attempting to save the bridge

Wonderfully told story! Salute to you from a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer in the Pacific Northwest of the USA!

A family friend of ours, Paul Robinson, was the commander of one of those half tracks that shot down planes attacking the bridge. He was an amazing man with a hundred stories about his generation. The Greatest Generation.

@badwizard1312

8 күн бұрын

They were. My uncle was on second wave on Omaha. My Dad was with 101 gliders. Made two jumps behind nazi lines. But those who serve are the greatest of EVERY generation. Vietnam vet.

Superb essay, really well edited and narrated, thank you.

Very well documented and presented, thank you.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Incredible video, thank you for your work 👏

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

The crossing at Remagen was likely the nail in Montgomery’s coffin as regards a major role in the conquest of the German homeland. For much of the thrust across France the plan was for Montgomery to cross the Rhine in the North and utilize the relatively open countryside to drive towards Berlin. Monty had sequentially lost Eisenhower’s favour with the failure in the Netherlands, his resistance to Eisenhower’s superior rank and finally a seriously self aggrandizing news conference after the Bulge. By crossing the Rhine 3 weeks before Operation Plunder/Varsity the calculation favouring 21st Army Group as the main offensive element had changed. The British and Canadians were diverted northward toward Denmark as the Americans headed into central Germany and the Elbe.

What a great video, I just couldn't stop watching, thank you.

I’m just so impressed by the quality and detail you put into these little docs. You really do your homework on this channel.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks very much Joey!

@joeyw7325

3 ай бұрын

@@BattleGuideVT you’re welcome. It’s very deserved. You’re gonna be at a million subscribers in no time

*Re: Lieutenant Karl Heinrich Timmermann* His father was a German immigrant who joined the US Army and was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany in 1919. He went AWOL and met his future wife, they got a son, Karl. The family returned to the USA in 1922. Because of his father's desertion, Karl and his brothers decided to join the US Army when it joined WW1 to redeem their family name. By extraordinary coincidence, Lieutenant Timmermann ended up at Remagen, a place he knew from his father's stories when he was AWOL in Germany. Timmermann informed his superiors that although Remagen was rather isolated, a few miles from the river was the Autobahn (German highways) that led to Frankfurt. In 1969, the warmovie 'The Bridge at Remagen' was released. Although dramatized, it does have great visuals of the landscape and the bridge itself. Or rather, a similar bridge built by the same company in what was Czechoslovakia at the time. The Czech bridge and town in the movie bore a great resemblance to the WW2 town of Remagen (a bit like the movie 'A Bridge Too Far' was shot in the Dutch town of Deventer because they had a similar bridge like at Arnhem). The movie's production was cut short in August 1968, when the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact forces invaded to repress the Prague Spring with force. Film crew and actors were hastily evacuated including the WW2 vintage vehicles. The final scenes were finished in Hollywood but when you watch the movie, it's hard to tell the difference.

I remember watching the movie this was way better. Thank you.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

My dad's former boss wrote the book and was at Remagen bridge. Ken Hechler.

I've never read or heard about this event. Thank you for the enlightenment! You have earned yourself a new subscriber.

Excellent production and images...

Splendid video ! Kudos 👏👏👏

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you liked it!

The information embedded in this video is absolutely wild. You’ve got yourself a new subscriber!…can’t wait to binge the rest of your videos. Great work!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Awesome! Thank you!

AN excellent documentary. One of the best I have seen on the events of World War II.

My grandfather was a Marine in WW1 and crossed the Remagen Bridge when his outfit entered Germany. Fast forward to WW2 and my father was in the US Army and witnessed the Remagen Bridge when it collapsed. Can't make this stuff up...

Your editing and story like narration is truly impressive

What a production! Well done!

I really enjoyed your documentary. It was impressive and succinct.

Brilliant vid! Thanks.

A very good documentary, great footage and informative storyline, thank you

Well done. Love Hell Let Loose. Loved the history behind the Remagen map.

Remagen is also where Julius Caesar bridged the Rhine.

Excellent Episode…..First one I have watched …look forward to others

Karl Timmerman was from West Point, NE. He died in aurora, CO. There are memorials all over West Point and there are still a lot of Timmermans in the area and multiple memorials to him. Get it right because the town of West Point is really proud of him (rightfully so)!

@AudieHolland

3 ай бұрын

Lieutenant Karl Heinrich Timmermann was originally born in Frankfurt am Main in 1922, about 160 kilometers from Remagen. The family moved back to the USA two years later but Timmermann remembered from his father that Remagen, while isolated, was only a few kilometers away from the Autobahn (highway) to Frankfurt. With that knowledge, Timmermann was able to convince his superiors of the importance of the Remagen crossing. Imagine his superior, asking Timmermann, 'are you sure?' And him replying 'Yes sir, I was born in Frankfurt, my father told me the Autobahn is close to Remagen.'

Fascinating video, thanks

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Great video! Great narration! Well done! Thank you so much.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Very well done. Thank you. 🇨🇦

A very succinct analysis. Well done

Amazing! Thank you. 👏

Thanks for this. It was very well presented.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Good narration. Made good viewing. 👍

Yet another fantastic and informative video. Thank you 🙏

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks very much.

Very well done narration. Your storytelling is spot on.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thank you kindly!

Never knew about this bridge until I played HLL, great video!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed!

This just shows. Assumption is the mother of all screw ups. Always pursue every route to victory. You never know. There might be a sneaky back way through.

great video thank you

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Been checking every day for the past week to see if you'd uploaded 🤣

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Ha, sorry, this one turned out to be a bit of a beast, hope you think its worth the wait!

Wow I learned so many new things (like the number of AA guns!) seriously good work thanks

Really wonderful identification of the individuals on both sides complete with photographs and names that were involved-- right down to the hauptmen & company commanders.

As the Norm, Outstanding Presentation !

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks John!

Great Video, Great Tribute. Thanks for sharing.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

I knew of this story before but had a half hour to kill before work. Great Job!!!!!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for tuning in.

A simply brilliant documentary, thank you for the amazing history lesson!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

You are welcome thanks for tuning in.

Incredible video, some scenes I’m looking at like I’ve seen this before, now I know where Call of Duty got the cut scenes from.

Good vid indeed! Well done

13:01 lol, i love how they immediately asserted bragging rights.

@scottwhitcher265

3 ай бұрын

I believe that sign is at the 9th Armored Division museum.

That was an amazing part of history well documented, thankyou

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

So well done, thank you.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Our pleasure!

AWESOME!THANKSFORSHARING!

Your channel is top notch.

Excellent details. Not hurried over like many other documentaries,

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Much appreciated!

Superb documentary 👏

As always, great content.

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Much appreciated!

Thanks for sharing! Nice, and too the point!

@BattleGuideVT

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!